Entering the Forbidden Forest at Night

Harley's words clearly struck a nerve with Hagrid.

Hagrid was almost fearless when it came to the "cute little creatures" he spoke of, showing no regard even for the law.

Ministry of Magic regulations? They meant nothing to him! Hagrid simply didn't care.

However, Hagrid was terrified that the "cute little things" he raised might come to harm.

Indeed, Professor Dumbledore had discovered twelve uses for dragon blood, so would he be interested in finding a thirteenth?

Hagrid stammered, "No, I believe Professor Dumbledore isn't that kind of man..."

But his fantasy was ruthlessly shattered by Harley: "Hagrid, don't forget, dragons are traditionally considered economic livestock in Britain.

In Diagon Alley, dragon liver and dragon hide are sold openly, with prices clearly marked in apothecary shops.

If a dragon were discovered in a place it shouldn't be, it might even threaten the safety of young wizards.

I believe that Professor Dumbledore, or any other professor for that matter, would agree that the dragon must be put down."

Hagrid's face turned deathly pale, and he slumped into his chair. Hermione seized the opportunity to press her advantage, continuing to persuade him.

Although she didn't know of any specific cases involving illegal dragons, Hermione skillfully used the fate of lions that escaped from zoos in the Muggle world as an example.

Finally, Hagrid began to consider whether he should send the dragon egg away.

"You could ask Ron, or perhaps Fred and George in their third year," Harley suggested, offering Hagrid a way out.

"Their older brother, Charlie Weasley, is a dragon keeper at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary.

You could ask Fred and George to help write a letter to see if it's possible to send the egg there."

Hagrid looked reluctant, but he nodded nonetheless: "Alright, I'll think about it. If there's no other choice... I suppose I'll have to send Norbert away.

Oh, poor Norbert, losing his mother before he's even born!" Tears welled up in the corners of Hagrid's eyes again.

Harley and Hermione exchanged a look and said nothing more, leaving Hagrid some time to himself.

After leaving the hut, Harley couldn't help but ask, "Are there really that many lions escaping from zoos?"

"Of course not," Hermione said, hands behind her back, a bright smile on her face. "But Hagrid has no way to verify that, does he?"

She held her head high, seemingly waiting for Harley's praise.

"My Hermione is so clever!" Harley responded to Hermione's expectation with a laugh, gently flicking the tip of her nose.

In the days that followed, Harley continuously received materials sent by Hagrid.

As for the dragon egg, with Harley's help, Hagrid had gotten in touch with the Weasley twins.

Fred and George were more than happy to help once they learned the situation. They were even more enthusiastic than Harley!

The two wrote to their brother and eventually summoned one of Charlie's friends. They even snuck out of the school through a secret passage to Hogsmeade, handing the dragon egg over to Charlie's friend to be taken away.

Although Hagrid was heartbroken, he had to endure the pain to ensure Norbert wouldn't become a pitiful source of ingredients the moment he hatched.

To soothe his melancholy, Hagrid spent longer periods patrolling the Forbidden Forest, providing Harley with even more materials.

Upon investigation, Harley found that these materials, just as she had hypothesized, contained extraordinary characteristics—or rather, medicinal properties—that were essentially identical to the materials from the Sequence Pathway world she had mapped out.

"Only unicorn blood remains, I need 100 milliliters." One night, Harley lay in bed, staring at her list of materials while gently biting her fingertip.

She hadn't asked Hagrid to help her obtain unicorn blood; after all, she didn't have many Galleons left.

Although she had used an owl to have the goblins withdraw more money for her, practicing potion-making was incredibly expensive.

Therefore, Harley had to be frugal; it was better to obtain the materials herself whenever possible.

"All the other auxiliary materials and the main ingredients for stripping away the extraordinary characteristics are ready. I'll start tomorrow night.

Unicorns only like pure-hearted girls... well, I fit that! After all, my body is only eleven years old!

I hope unicorns can't probe into one's thoughts, otherwise, no Pleasure Witch would ever succeed."

Harley rolled over on the bed, lying on her stomach, her small, pale feet tapping against the quilt.

"Hmm, unicorns, their habits seem so bizarre. I hope they'll be cooperative. But this curse..."

Harley looked toward the sealed box on her bedside table. Inside sat a bottle that looked dull and lusterless, as if it were nothing more than an ordinary vase.

In reality, that bottle had once contained a failed "Apothecary" potion and had been corrupted into a Sealed Artifact.

Harley had named this artifact the Bottle of Decomposition.

A Sealed Artifact refers to a magical object that must be kept contained due to its severe side effects.

This bottle had somehow absorbed some strange property; whenever it was used, it would always try to secretly drain the user's blood.

At the same time, regardless of the potion or material placed inside, it would slowly decompose it bit by bit.

However, this decomposition followed a specific order.

For instance, if a Witch pathway potion were placed in the bottle, the liquid inside would first separate into distinct layers of Black Abyss Demon Fish blood and Onyx Peacock egg fluid.

Subsequently, pure water, Golden Datura sap, Daffodil extract, and other auxiliary materials would slowly precipitate out from those two liquids.

Harley intended to make use of this negative effect.

According to Harley's deductions, there were two possible reasons why the blood of a Unicorn contained a curse.

One possibility was that when a Unicorn did not offer its blood willingly, it would automatically generate emotions similar to resentment, causing the blood to become cursed.

The other possibility was that the blood of a Unicorn was inherently toxic or cursed by nature.

Harley prepared to first try and have a Unicorn offer its blood willingly, intending to conduct research once she had obtained it.

Of course, if they were not willing, Harley would simply have to make them "willing."

If persuasion didn't work, using the methods of an Assassin to make them shed a little bit of blood would be harmless enough.

After all, in Harley's eyes, Unicorns were nothing more than walking materials.

As for what to do if the obtained blood still contained a curse, Harley felt that a Witch skilled in curses should have a chance to break them, especially since she herself possessed very profound knowledge.

If it were toxicity, she would see if she could use the side effects of a Sealed Artifact to forcibly separate the toxins.

The following night, Harley cast a curse on her three roommates.

This curse caused no harm; it would only plunge them into a deep sleep, and the curse would vanish after six hours.

Glancing at the three sleeping girls, Harley picked up her other materials and vanished into thin air, moving rapidly along the base of the walls.

The castle doors were already locked, but Harley nimbly vaulted out of a second-story window. Nothing could stop a skilled Assassin!

The lights in Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest were already out, and she didn't know if Hagrid had gone on patrol or was already asleep.

Harley didn't bother to activate her Spirit Vision to investigate, simply bypassing Hagrid's hut.

The weather was clear tonight, and the moonlight spilled across the ground; it was a good time.